December 21, 2006 Newsletter

============================== Microwaves & RF UPDATE MWRF - www.mwrf.com December 21, 2006 ============================== Greetings and welcome to your personal copy of PlanetEE's Microwaves and RF UPDATE e-newsletter. Please see below for address-change or subscribe/unsubscribe instructions. Today's Table of Contents: 1. Ham Radio Reaches End Of An Era 2. No More Morse Code In Ham Radio Tests 3. Focus Enhancements Receives FCC Approval For DS-OFDM UWB 4. Silicon/Crystal Timing Market To Expand 5. MEMS To Move In 2008 6. InGaP LNA Boosts Satellite Radio Receivers 7. Maury Hosts Load-Pull Seminar 8. Happenings - Conferences ************************ ADVERTISEMENT**************************** You take WiMAX forward. See how Agilent clears the way. Agilent cleared the way for fixed/mobile WiMAX and WiBro with the industry's first design tools like our Advanced Design System (ADS) suite of software tools, ESG signal generator with Signal Studio software, and VSA modulation analysis software. Now you can anticipate potential roadblocks with fast and efficient test using Agilent WiMAX MXG signal generation and MXA signal analysis - see how at http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=44714:49027F . It's WiMAX testing at the edge of possibility. For more information, click on the link below: http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=44724:49027F ****************************************************************** *************** 1. Viewpoint *************** Ham Radio Reaches End Of An Era Amateur radio operators hold an important and noble place in this country. Not only are they people dedicated to maintaining skills in radio communications, they represent this country's "safety net" for emergency communications should some disaster or terrorist activity render all normal communications networks useless. Those who remember the movie classic On The Beach may recall the main characters' hope of finding survivors following a nuclear holocaust after receiving a Morse Code message on a ham radio. That scene has suddenly become severely dated, with the FCC's willingness to grant higher-level Amateur Radio operator's licenses without knowledge of Morse Code. Obviously, this has opened the door to many more people becoming ham operators, who may have hesitated previously when considering the Morse Code requirement. But this relaxation of the requirements also "cheapens" the license somewhat, in the manner of granting a driver's license in a large city without requiring the skill of parallel parking. With newer radios and communications technologies available, the FCC's move away from Morse Code is understandable. But, as that scene in On The Beach showed, that Morse Code may come in handy one day. JACK BROWNE Technical Director ************* 2. News ************* No More Morse Code In Ham Radio Tests Morse code will no longer be a requirement for earning any Amateur Radio (ham) license in the US. The United States Federal Communications Commission announced last week that it had eliminated testing for proficiency in Morse code for all Amateur Radio license classes. Although many ham operators are well versed in Morse Code, it will no longer be required for a license as per FCC Report & Order in WT Docket 05-235. Since 1991 it has been possible to earn a "Technician" class Amateur Radio license without passing a Morse examination. The higher class licenses, "General" and "Amateur Extra," required at least five words per minute code proficiency. The Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL) reported that requests for study materials for new licenses had doubled within 72 hours of the FCC announcement that Morse Code had been dropped from the testing. For more information, contact the ARRL. ARRL ---> http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=44722:49027F ********* 3. News ********* Focus Enhancements Receives FCC Approval For DS-OFDM UWB Focus Enhancements, a pioneer of sending wireless video with ultrawideband (UWB) technology, has received US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval for its direct-sequence, orthogonal-frequency-division-multiplex modulation technique. The approval allows full use of the UWB spectrum without waiver, providing 880-Mb/s rates to UWB product designers and users. Focus is also the only wireless chip manufacturer to receive approval without waiver. As a result, DS-OFDM UWB radios will be able to use all or any part of the bandwidth allocated by the FCC for UWB applications (3.1 to 16.6 GHz). According to Tom Hamilton, executive vice president and general manger of Focus Enhancements' semiconductor group, "While several WiMedia companies have received FCC approval for UWB technology, none have done so without waiver - until now." The firm's flavor of UWB technology allows wireless high-definition (HD) and standard-definition (SD) video transmission at data rates from 37 to 880 Mb/s with distances sufficient for whole house wireless video coverage. Focus Enhancements ---> http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=4471C:49027F ********* 4. News ********* Silicon/Crystal Timing Market To Expand The market for silicon-based and crystal-based timing devices will grow from $4.2 billion in 2006 to exceed $5.7 billion in 2011 according to a new study from ABI Research. While silicon-based timing devices are still not as capable of sophisticated tasks as crystal oscillators, they are getting better, and will eventually replace crystals in many contexts. The report, "The Timing Solution Market: Quartz Crystal, Crystal and SAW Oscillators, and Silicon Timing Devices," notes that the strongest growth will occur in the Asia-Pacific region. ABI Research ---> http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=4471A:49027F ********** 5. News ********** MEMS To Move In 2008 The latest ABI Research study on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology projects that 2008 will be a banner year for the MEMS in mobile phones. The report, "Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) in Mobile Phones," predicts five major application areas for MEMS in the mobile phone: in RF filters, adaptive tuning circuits, resonators and oscillators, audio microphones, accelerometers, and motion sensors. Cost is still a concern, although it should drop with the expected volumes for mobile phones. ABI Research ---> http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=4471B:49027F ************************ ADVERTISEMENT**************************** You take WiMAX forward. See how Agilent clears the way. Agilent cleared the way for fixed/mobile WiMAX and WiBro with the industry's first design tools like our Advanced Design System (ADS) suite of software tools, ESG signal generator with Signal Studio software, and VSA modulation analysis software. Now you can anticipate potential roadblocks with fast and efficient test using Agilent WiMAX MXG signal generation and MXA signal analysis - see how at http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=44714:49027F . It's WiMAX testing at the edge of possibility. For more information, click on the link below: http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=44724:49027F ****************************************************************** ********* 6. News ********* InGaP LNA Boosts Satellite Radio Receivers Model UPG2310TK is a low-noise amplifier (LNA) fabricated with an InGaP monlithic-microwave-integrated-circuit (MMIC) process. Ideal for Industrial-Scientific-Medical (ISM) applications in the 2.3-to-2.5-GHz band as well as for SDARS satellite radio receivers, the LNA features 27 dB gain and 1.8 dB noise figure at 2.3 GHz. The third-order intercept point is +28.5 dBm at that frequency. The LNA is supplied in a compact TK package measuring 1.5 x 1.3 x 0.55 mm. California Eastern Labs ---> http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=44723:49027F ********* 7. News ********* Maury Hosts Load-Pull Seminar Maury Microwave is hosting a three-hour seminar on load-pull testing using the company's high-reflection impedance tuner with a commercial vector network analyzer. The seminar, which is scheduled from 1 to 4 PM on January 10, 2007 at the 2007 IEEE Radio and Wireless Symposium in the Long Beach Convention Center (Long Beach, CA), uses the optimization of a GSM/EDGE power-amplifier (PA) module as an example. Attendees can register to win a 4-GB iPOD nano. For more information, contact John Sevic at e-mail: jsevic@maurymw.com or visit the company's web site. Maury Microwave Corp. ---> http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=44720:49027F ******************************* 8. Happenings - Conferences ******************************* 2007 IEEE Radio and Wireless Symposium (RWS) January 7-12, 2007 Long Beach Convention Center Long Beach, CA http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=44719:49027F Software Defined Radio (SDR) Forum Meeting January 15-18, 2007 Sheraton San Diego Hotel, Mission Valley San Diego, CA http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=4471E:49027F 2007 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) February 11-15, 2007 San Francisco Marriot Hotel San Francisco, CA http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=44721:49027F IEEE Sarnoff Symposium 2007 April 30-May 2, 2007 Sarnoff Labs Princeton, NJ http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=44716:49027F 2007 IEEE/MTT-S International Microwave Symposium June 3-8, 2007 Hawaii Convention Center Honolulu, HI http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=4471F:49027F ************************ ADVERTISEMENT**************************** For The Best In Test and Components Visit Microwaves & RF's RF Test Blog to learn about the latest developments in RF and microwave test equipment and measurement techniques. Sponsored by Keithley Instruments, this blog highlights hot new products, white papers, and application notes. And while you're there, take a look at the new RF Components Blog, sponsored by M/A-COM for the latest component news, at: http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=4471D:49027F ****************************************************************** ====================================================== MICROWAVES AND RF (MWRF) UPDATE e-NEWSLETTER CONTACTS ====================================================== Technical Director: Jack Browne mailto:jbrowne@penton.com Managing Editor: John Curley mailto:jcurley@penton.com Advertising/Sponsorship Opportunities: Paul Barkman at 1-908-704-2460 or mailto:pbarkman@penton.com ===================================================== SUBSCRIBER INFO ===================================================== To subscribe to our online newsletters click here: http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=44717:49027F To change your email address, email your old and new address to mailto:newsletters@planetee.com/subject=Address_Change ==================================== To view Penton Media's privacy policy click here: http://news.mwrf.com/t?ctl=44715:49027F ==================================== Copyright 2006 Penton Media Inc. 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